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I'm sorry if this has already been asked, I did do some searching and didn't find it. However a number of questions, I have just installed the latest Ubuntu touch, on a nexus 5, and was going to have a play with the terminal etc.

1) I notice the presence of apt-get, however when I try apt-get install telnet (so I can connect to an IRC) I get Unable to write to /var/cache/apt and The Package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

2) Is it possible to add other PPA's to my phone, and install normal Ubuntu packages(obviously within reason, things such as for example Apache, nmap, or console programs).

3) I see it has dpkg, what debs are supported, that i can install on here? Or would it be anything console, that the hardware supports?

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  • Most PPAs only have packages for x86 architecture that won't work on a phone. Oct 12, 2014 at 22:59
  • If this is the case, how would i be able install say an IRC client, or tellnet to use? Or would i want to write something in perl that does the same thing? Oct 12, 2014 at 23:28

1 Answer 1

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From Installing Ubuntu on devices:

Enabling read-write mode

By default the system is read-only. You can switch to read-write mode, although this disables Ubuntu system upgrades. The main purpose for this is developing the Ubuntu system directly. This is not required for developing apps or using the system normally. Recovering from read-write mode is possible but requires reinstalling the system from scratch.

Warning: Switching a device to read-write mode (and/or recovering from it) is an advanced feature and may result in complete data loss.

Warning: Switching a device to read-write mode disables automatic over-the-air updates.

Install on your host system the phablet-tools package:

sudo apt-get install phablet-tools

And type the following command:

phablet-config writable-image

The system will reboot in read-write mode, but even if you'll be able to use apt-get or set up a PPA, only packages built for armhf will be installable.

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    So i can't use apt-get to any avail without doing this, i have to do it all via the software center? Oct 12, 2014 at 23:23
  • @user3407675 You can't run apt-get on read-only images, only applications that you get from the Ubuntu Store are allowed Oct 12, 2014 at 23:27
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    use this to make it writable: sudo mount -o remount,rw / Apr 23, 2015 at 20:07
  • @SylvainPineau How do I supposed to run sudo apt-get install phablet-tools for the first time if apt is disabled (because of read-only image)? Your answer is no really valid here. May 23, 2015 at 4:48
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    @KhurshidAlam You need to install phablet-tools on your desktop/laptop system running Ubuntu. Then plug with a USB cable your device and run the phablet-config command. All those commands have to be run from your desktop. Once RW is enabled, then use phablet-shell to have a remote shell or the terminal app of Ubuntu-Touch to install packages with apt-get. May 23, 2015 at 8:26

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